Rape by Alpha Counter

Ok we all have been playing for a while, some longer the others, but undoubtedly one of the best and most innovative new features is the "alpha counter".

Performed by holding block and taping O right as an opponents hit connects. It's great to push bulldogs away and the risk/reward isn't too bad either as an over use of such a technique can actually work against you since it stifles your Awakening meter by 25% (give or take). The meta-game gets changed a bit by it too since a person who is being overly defensive and just waiting for their chance to alpha counter can be susceptible to guard break which leads into ougi/jutsu and the like. Plus it deals out a little more damage then a shuriken toss so damage is not an issue.

But what happens if your character can't attack on block at all? I mean of course with the A.C. there is wayyyy more timing involved with it then a knj, but what if there wasn't?

Enter Neji and Kisame.

Apparently if you use a character who has rapid hits, you're dicked. The 2nd through 6th hit of his chain comes out in almost a perfect stream of attack, if you're blocking you can press O at almost anytime and he's countered, it takes very little timing and actually because he does hit in such a steady stream you can pretty much mash O and it's going down against him. Though he has a saving grace. His Forward+O,O chain is actually a much better alternative in almost every way. It comes out fast, has high priority and the hits chain fast enough to keep someone from dashing out of your combo as well. On block the timing to alpha counter it is about the same for a normal chain and 2 of them plus a single O is enough to cause guard crush. Plus for those that do want to use the neutral chain you always have the option of opening the attack with forward plus O, if it's blocked then you continue it and if it's not you can shuriken cancel and go into your normal chain which is safe on hit. There are still ways for Neji to get down, you just gotta be careful!

But Kisame? Not so lucky =(

This guy hits SOOOOOOOO many times in his chain that you can seriously tap O the second he hits your block and either your button press will counter the very first hit or the hit directly behind it because he hits so fast. And this puts the shark man in a very messed up position because ALL his ground attacks are this way, from his forward O to both his chains, which doesn't leave him a whole lot to work with.

He still has his GB (which can't be ac'd) but it is definitely too slow to really work with and it can be knj'd with almost the same amount of ease.

It seems the only way he'll be able to pull damage is from baby shark jutsu (which luckily auto aims if you knj after any one of the sharks hit you) and to stick to aerials, which ironically is more or less the way he was most effective in NA2, just not as dire as this.

Does it ruin the game? It doesn't at all, its just funny to me lol. Like it's assists all over again in the sense that somebody at CC2 had a great idea and dudes were like: "Yeah lets put it in!!" Not realizing it made it so you couldn't even hit grab without an assist blasting you or in this case not thinking about characters who can be ac'd 9.5/10 times lol.

Ahh, I mean it's only really 2 characters that suffer badly from it (plus a few with rapid hit chain enders) but I think this falls in line with CC2 normal mode of operation which is basically:

It was a good idea, but they didn't think it through fully.

-Rockman Out-